


no point crying over spilled tea

by cerikino



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, M/M, also based off the hc that dimitri bodies people who say rude things about his friends, im dimiclaude allll the way, its kinda platonic mostly?? but if you know me, originally posted on twitter, people do say some stuff about claude so if that bothers you i did write it in italics, so i got angry so i wrote to get rid of the angery, so now this exists, uhhhh i wrote this because i found out people ingame are aggressive towards claude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 14:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21303284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cerikino/pseuds/cerikino
Summary: It should've been a nice tea party between two house leaders. That was all it was supposed to be. Yet of course, there are bound to be people that remind him of his childhood. The ones who spoke cruel words because of who he was. Claude knows better not to satisfy them with his anger. He's already too familiar with a sight like that. He's already too familiar with people who won't change.He knows that someday in the future, he'll be able to bring his dreams to fruition. It's just not now. Not yet.However, Dimitri has other thoughts.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Claude von Riegan, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 207





	no point crying over spilled tea

Lips curl into that signature grin of his when Claude eyes the long, vivid blue cape billowing in the wind. He sits comfortably at the ornate table meant for small tea parties. Often times, he finds Byleth here with other faculty or students, but Claude managed to cop it for him and Dimitri. It had been a while since the two house leaders had last spoken to each other, especially with how busy they were with their own tasks around the academy. In fact, they probably wouldn’t have seen or talked to each other today if Claude didn’t take matters into his own hands.

“Glad to see that you could join me today, your Princeliness,” Claude speaks, reaching back to interlace his fingers behind his head. “Almost thought you wouldn’t be coming.”

Dimitri lets out a chuckle as he pulls out the empty chair in front of Claude and sits down. His arms rest upon the wooden surface as Dimitri glances at the teacup placed in front of him. “If it wasn’t for the invitation that you sent me earlier, I would have never been here. It’s quite unfortunate that I find myself not having as much free time as I would like to…” 

Claude hums in agreement before placing his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his palm. “We all are lately. I sent an invite to Princess earlier too, but I just recently found out that she had to go on a mission with Teach today. It’s almost like the goddess doesn’t want us to talk and have meaningful conversations with each other.” 

He didn’t quite hear much about the mission itself, except for the fact that the Black Eagles were going to deal with some rebelling villagers. As much as it piqued his interest, Claude couldn’t delve any deeper as he was already going to meet Dimitri out on the courtyard. 

Dimitri’s eyebrows quirk up ever so slightly in response to what Claude had to say. It seemed like he was just hearing about this. He raises his head to look at the archer straight in the eye. 

“I see. Then I hope there will be a next time where the three of us can talk over tea. Not often are we able to come together to speak with each other in our free time either. That is, not counting the times where we are on the battlefield for mock battles.” 

Dimitri shifts slightly in his seat when the breeze extends a hand to ruffle his golden locks. A little chilly it is today, but it doesn’t seem to bother Dimitri. However, Claude shivers slightly at the feel. He was never well-accustomed to the cold like the prince was.

It’s quiet for a few seconds before Claude notices a small (yet warm) smile washing across Dimitri’s features.

“Is that true, Claude? Do you think our conversations are really so meaningful?” the prince inquires, fiddling with his fingers in front of him.

There’s what seems to be the lightest blush dusted across Dimitri’s face and a grin spreads across Claude’s face at the sight of it. With that, Claude takes hold of the white cup that's filled with piping hot tea before casting his gaze away from the prince. Ever so carefully, he takes a sip.

“Mmm, I mean I wasn’t going to waste the freshly made pot of chamomile tea I made, so I think yes?” 

He wasn’t lying, Claude really was prepared with tea and everything. Besides, he _ did _ like talking to Dimitri. Many people garnered interest towards the prince and Claude was definitely not one immune to it. There just seemed to be more to Dimitri than he thought there was.

The prince laughs (sheepishly, even?) before he raises his own cup of tea to his lips. “I see what you mean now, Claude. Tea is quite expensive nowadays...” 

The two of them end up drinking their tea in silence for a while as they realized they really didn’t have much to talk about. There were a few things about their own respective houses that trickled into their conversation (like how a sleep-deprived Sylvain nearly mistook Felix with his hair down as a fair maiden and Lysithea almost burning down the kitchen). The mental images of both situations elicited laughter from the two house leaders. Yet, the silence that soon came after wasn’t so bad either. It was comforting to hear the birds chirping and the breeze dancing with the leaves once and awhile. In other words, it was a moment of peace that neither of them thought they needed.

Although, it was utterly ruined when Claude overheard a conversation between two students walking by. 

_ “Have you heard about the house leader of the Golden Deer? He’s the heir of House Riegan that appeared out of nowhere as Duke Riegan came down with such a terrible sickness.” _

_ “Is that so? Sounds suspicious to me. I mean, just from how he _ ** _looks _ ** _ and _ ** _acts_ ** _, I wouldn’t be surprised that he’s up to no good. He, in no way, seems trustworthy. I’m glad that I’m not in Golden Deer. In fact, I would’ve transferred out as soon as I could.” _

Words of venom they were. They were something that Claude was already too familiar with. They were something that followed him to when he was a child and when he first enrolled in the academy. At this point, he knew better not to take action and simply ignore whatever cruel things others had to say. He wasn’t going to satisfy people’s need for attention by fighting back, especially with the thought of someday... **someday**, he'll be able to make his dreams become a reality. A reality that will finally fit with him.

Claude pulls the cup of tea away from his lips and places it down on the small plate on the table. He knows that Dimitri must’ve heard what they had to say, but Claude had been glancing down at the table rather than the two students themselves. He allows his curiosity gets the best of him when he lets himself look up at the prince.

The sight surprises him. Dimitri looked more irritated by what they had to say rather than Claude was. His fingers tremble and squeeze tightly around the handle of the teacup where to the point Claude thinks the ceramic might shatter in his hands. And then there's the look in his eyes. The look in Dimitri’s eyes seems almost downright murderous and it’s something that Claude is sure he hasn’t seen before. 

There's the loud clash of the teacup hitting the plate and it startles Claude for a mere second. He eyes all the drops of tea that have been splashed all over the wooden surface of the table and knowing Dimitri's attitude to jump into things right away, he can only assume what he’s going to do next.

“Dimitri, don’t—” Claude reaches over the table to try to grab Dimitri by the wrist, but he’s too late. The prince has already stood up and walked away from the table to encounter those two students. The quickened pace Dimitri adopts forces Claude to immediately get up from his seat and jog up behind him. He doesn’t know how Dimitri will react, how Dimitri will talk to them, or how Dimitri feels about all of it. It’s an unfamiliar side of him that Claude never expected to see today. His hand reaches for Dimitri’s wrist again. “Dimitri, please—”

“How could you either of you speak of Claude like that!” Dimitri exclaims, his eyes narrowing as his hands curled into fists. “As students of the academy here in the monastery, you should know better not to speak of others like that. I recognize you two being from the Blue Lions and shall I tell you, I would **never** condone something like that. There is more than what meets the eye, but I can tell that both of you can only speak about what is at the surface in your _ twisted ways. _” 

The last part of Dimitri’s words almost comes out like a lion’s snarl.

It’s almost surreal to see this all play out in front of Claude. Claude had never quite taken action against people like this at the academy. Surely enough when people were saying things like this, he would sometimes let himself do a little scheme to make them slip up, but Claude never met them face-to-face. It wasn’t like he was afraid of them. It was the reason why his walls were built in the first place. They were walls that he made that he hoped could last until he became the leader of the Leicester Alliance.

One of the students almost looks quite shell-shocked at Dimitri’s sudden arrival and response. “Y-Your highness! We… we apologize for our actions—”

Dimitri cuts them off from saying anything further. “You shouldn’t be apologizing to **me**.”

Their bowed heads raise to look up at Claude, who only finds himself to be standing there awkwardly. He doesn’t have anything to say about this. He’s never been placed in this position before. 

“We are immensely sorry for our words… uhm… the two of us hope you can accept our apology,” one of them stutters out. It’s a really half-assed apology if anyone knew one, but he might as well take it at this point. He knows people won’t stop talking about him like this even if they apologize. That’s just how people are. 

So he plasters on one of those smiles that don’t reach his eyes.

“It’s alright. I accept your apology,” he says coolly. His hands move up to grasp Dimitri by his shoulders. Claude needs to take Dimitri away now before something else might happen. The aura surrounding the prince makes it seem like he might burst with emotion. “Now then, I’ve got to whisk away your house leader again, so I hope you two don’t mind!” His words are fake. He’s bitter, but he doesn’t let that show. He’s mastered this facade too well.

Claude expects his response to make Dimitri glance over at him with a surprised look across his face and that’s exactly what he gets. His hands travel down to pull the prince by the arm and bring him back to the table. Claude was already accustomed to people like this (despite the fact that he really shouldn’t be), but he doesn’t need Dimitri to get caught up in this mess too. 

As they walk away, he doesn’t dare to look back at the students they left behind. Sure, it was a _little_ satisfying to see those two being put into place, but really Claude knows better as he knows people like that will almost never change.

“How could… how could you accept their apology so easily, Claude? The words they spoke towards you and everything… I would’ve never been able to let them go after hearing that.” Dimitri frowns as he places his hand against the table. “It just… it angers me so much. I hear enough of that when Dedue is at my side.” His lips pull into a thin line before he curls his fingers into a fist again. “There are worse people out there. People with actual demons at their side. It's just… I-I don’t understand.”

Claude lets himself show off the smallest hint of a smile. It's not real. It's only just a mask, but he does it to reassure Dimitri that it's okay. Even if it really isn't.

“I don't let it bother me,” he says, his hand yet to leave Dimitri’s arm. Eyes flicker up to look at the prince. Dimitri won’t look at him.

It wasn't new for him to disregard someone's existence because of what cruel words they directed at him. As much as he appreciated Dimitri's efforts, there's a part of him that looks against it. He doesn't want to seem weak. Those walls that built as a child were his only defense against being weak and they were walls he wouldn't let others break. Well, perhaps not yet at least.

However, something catches Claude's attention and green eyes look at the prince with slight confusion. Why was Dimitri sounding like he was talking about someone in particular? The thought makes Claude's mind run in circles on about who could be, yet he decides not to delve deeper into it for now. It's not the time or place for questions like that.

The tension between them is so overwhelming that Claude doesn't know what else he could say. He lets out a long sigh as his hand lets go of Dimitri's arm and stretches to put his hands behind his head. Unfortunate that their little talk had swerved into something like this.

Claude's mouth opens when neither of them says anything for a good five minutes. "So, your Princeliness—" He starts, but he's interrupted by the sound of Dimitri's fist slamming against the table. He's almost surprised that the table doesn't snap under Dimitri's inhumane strength.

The impact allows his cup of tea to jump off the wooden surface of the table and fall straight to the floor, causing it to shatter into several pieces. It startles himself more than Claude. A red blush burns strongly across Dimitri’s face as he stares down at the broken teacup.

“I—I apologize… I have let my emotions take over me more than usual today.”

Claude lets out a small huff of amusement. Typical Dimitri. Claude's voice is quiet as he speaks though, lips opening to say, “Don’t worry about it, your Princeliness.”

Together, the two of them crouch down to clean what was once the delicate ornate teacup left on the surface of the table. In an absolutely suffocating silence, Claude feels like the smell of chamomile tea is overwhelming as it spills into the cracks of the stone floor. 

A jarring thought it was, as he always liked the soothing scent of chamomile tea.

“It’s alright,” the archer whispers under his breath as his eyes flutter up to look at Dimitri. Claude, who was already silver-tongue as is with others, is somehow at a loss of words when his eyes land on Dimitri's furrowed brow. Dimitri is still so stubborn.

Claude speaks as an attempt to break the tense atmosphere between them, but instead, Claude finds himself questioninf if he meant to say that towards Dimitri or really, _himself_.

So green eyes trail down again to look at the remnants of the broken cup that he holds in his bare hands. And he just thinks:

Perhaps he will never know.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this at like 2 am and threw this on twitter lmao ;; there were plenty of errors and typos galore and i ended up revising it to fix a few mistakes and whatnot !! i was actually really nervous on posting this and whatever because i felt they seemed a little ooc, but there were lots of kind people who reassured me that it was alright ;u; 
> 
> i was actually supposed to write smth else but yknow if you gotta write, you gotta write
> 
> anyways, thank you for reading this and if yall want, hmu on twitter at @cerikino!! :3c


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